i am designing my first earthbag building and i want to inculde a shed roof that is denim insulated. i am wondering if it is possible to make my own. suggestions please... thanks.

why. unless you have an excess supply of denim whats the point? there are much better options.

because it was something that i thought i could produce myself. i live in the desert, and what i really love about life out here is that you have to do for yourself. In the little town where i live there is a small hardware store- but they don't stock insulation. i think that it's important to support local businesses (like the little museum thrift store where i could find lots of denim)- which is the only way to be really since the nearest city- and home improvement supermega store is 3 hours away.

Is there a better option that you would recommend?

Try talking to your local hardware guy, almost every one of them these days is supplied by a large hardware distibution chain like ACE. Odds are they can order almost anything a big box store has at comperable prices.

It would take a HELL of a lot of pairs of jeans to insulate just one wall- you sure the thrift store has that kind of volume? (Weigh a pair, then look up the weight/volume/coverage specs for commercially available cotton insulation- you'll see what I mean!)

Wow!  You have to admire that kind of spirit.  However, I think Dana is right, in addition to finding enough pairs of jeans, you would have to find a way to shred them.

Can you not use earthbags and timbers to fashion the roof? 

Ed